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Buyers have a system,
sales people usually don't.
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 The best plan wins.
It is a battle of the plans, and the person with the stronger plan wins. Buyers have an effective system to deal with salespeople. Many technology buyers are formally trained in dealing with salespeople. For a sample of what they get taught visit one of the top buyer training sites www.dobetterdeals.com. Gartner also offers training for CIO’s and IT buyers.
The buyer’s system is designed to get as much information as possible and to keep them in control of the situation. Buyers often mislead sales reps about their intentions, how much they’ll spend, who makes decisions, etc. The prospect’s system is designed to turn high-tech sales people into unpaid consultants, lead them on until they have all of the information they need, and often use their proposals to negotiate better deals with their current supplier or a competitor.
Why do buyers do this? It's simple. It works. The stereotype of a salesman is not a good image for most of us, and buyers are afraid of being sold something they don't want. In order to protect themselves, buyers feel they need a system to deal with sales people. It is an instinctive reaction to the negative stereotype of a salesman that causes buyers to put up a defensive wall when dealing with anyone who is selling something.
So how do most sales people deal with the buyer's system? Most play right in to it. Many don't use a systematic approach to selling and find themselves 'winging it.' They allow the prospect to take total control of the sales process. They eagerly:
- Give their information
- Make commitments without getting any in return
- Waste resources on pursuing deals that will never close
- Make unneeded concessions
- Misinterpret the ubiquitous "I'll think it over and get back to you" as a future sale
- They lose to competitive salespeople who have a better system or greater
skill
This underlying paradigm that drives the buyer/seller dance works to the detriment of the sales person. But is it in the best interest of the buyer to make significant technology decisions this way? No, this default mode of operation is in neither the buyer’s nor the seller’s best interest.
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Too much time with prospects who will never buy.
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60% of a salesperson's time is spent in front of people who will not buy their product. Why is this true?
A) Sales reps won't ask the hard questions up-front for fear of making their prospects angry.
B) Prospects don't want to say no. Most sales people think their job is to close everybody, and over the years sales training has taught "Don't take NO for an answer." Reps are taught to be persistent…handle stalls and objections...trial close...always be closing. No wonder buyers need a system to protect themselves. Buyers realize sales reps don't want to hear "NO" and that when they do they'll "hang in there" and try to turn "NO" into "YES." When the poor buyer really means "NO," s/he has found the easiest way to get rid of a sales person is to tell them, "I'll think it over, I'll get back to you." How many "think it over's" really turn into business?
C) Salespeople don't get to decision-makers. Instead most salespeople spend time with 'comfort people' who are easier to get in front of, and to whom the salesperson is more comfortable talking.
The solution? Sales reps need tools to separate tire-kickers from buyers and an approach to obtain executive sponsorship early in the sales cycle. Learn the fine art of tactfully qualifying your prospects out, not qualifying them in. The top rep learns to ask the hard questions up-front, to save precious resources for real opportunities. "NO" is an acceptable response from a buyer. "Going for the NO" requires a tremendous paradigm shift for most sales people, but it can take all the pressure off the rep and increase her/his productivity. The prospect is also a beneficiary, because it makes the process feel more like 'buying' than 'being sold.'
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Sales people talk too much.
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Seek first to understand.
A sales VP recently told us, " My sales reps' listening skills aren't where they need to be—someone says something and they don't find out the real reason or intent behind the question, which leaves the prospect feeling like my sales people don't understand them or their issues. "
Of course, when we sent them to the College of Product Knowledge, filled
them with features and benefits and then sent them out to make their quotas,
we should have expected this result. The marketing department has given the
sales team the 'Corporate Pitch'-robust, extensible, user friendly,
scalable, reliable-all from an industry leader.
So what's the problem telling our story? First, people buy for their
reasons, not the sales rep's reasons. Second, 80% of training provided for
direct sales people and channel partners is product-oriented. Salespeople
are eager to share this information and selling becomes presenting. The
focus is on your product or service, and not on the buyer and her/his
problem, where it belongs. These "Corporate Pitches" all sound the same to
the buyer, and when they sound the same, low price becomes the determining
factor in getting the business.
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Too much focus on price.
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Price is never the real issue.
If you don't believe this yourself, call us so we can show you why it's true. Sales people focus on price because it's often the first thing the buyer asks about. Yet study after study confirms that quality and services are almost always more important than price. Price is never the main reason for getting and keeping business. People buy your products and services to solve a problem they have or to change something.
The solution? If you are effective in asking questions and getting to real issues, price should not be the determining factor in winning and losing, and you can sell at a premium over your competitor's price.
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Salespeople fail to get firm commitments from buyers.
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Understand the motivation for the buy.
Salespeople are often very willing to jump at the opportunity to do a
proposal, presentation, demo, etc. This approach is time-consuming and
resource intensive. How many bids and proposals has your firm sent out over
the last twelve months that resulted in nothing? How much does it cost you
on an annual basis in misspent sales time, S.E. time, trial software, loaner
equipment, bid and proposal efforts, etc.? High-tech sales managers often
contribute to the problem by monitoring the wrong statistics - quotes sent,
meetings held, proposals outstanding - driving lots of activity, but little
results.
The solution? Salespeople must learn what motivates people to buy (we call
it pain/gain) and become masters of the skills required to help buyers
become comfortable sharing their pain/gain (an example is the 'pain funnel'
questioning technique). Other tools, like the Ultimate Contract letter,
mini-contracts and post selling, help firm up and lock in your buyer's
commitment and make your forecast reliable. Never do anything unless you
know why, and it's in your best interest.
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